Another study found an increase of 13.6% in jump height when adding arm movement [4].

WHY DO THE ARMS CONTRIBUTE TO JUMP HEIGHT?

ENERGY: “The kinetic energy developed by the arms is used to increase their potential energy at take-off but also to store and return energy from the lower limbs and to “pull” on the rest of the body” [5].

ECCENTRIC VELOCITY: The arms add to downwards speed and force, causing an equal reaction on the way up. Read more here.

WORK DONE AT THE HIP:Adding arm swing provides additional load to the hip, increasing muscular work done [6].

Jumping with an arm swing increases power on the downwards phase, effectively ‘loads’ the lower body segments, heightens the center of mass before takeoff, and ‘pulls’ the body upwards on the ascent. Every one of these factors increases jump height.

TAKEAWAY

PRACTICE: When jumping, synchronize a violent backwards arm swing with the descent and a violent upwards arm swing with the ascent.

STRENGTH TRAIN THE UPPER BODY: In a study comparing 25 college-age men to 25 college-age women, the arm swing (compared to no arm swing) showed significantly more increase in jump height in men than in women [7]. The researchers speculated it was because of greater upper body strength.

WEIGHT ROOM

Jumping with arm swing puts a high demand on the shoulder and elbow muscles [5]. For general strength and power development of these areas, I recommend the following 6 movements:

Practice maximal vertical jumping, on a Vertec, with approach box jumps, and by dunking.

The Vertical Jump Protocol features two days of upper body training. The program optimizes the upper body’s effect on jump height and trains your entire body to be more forceful and explosive – adding inches to your vertical jump.